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Ord River Resources has potentially made one of the most significant discoveries in Australian copper mining history and it's in the East Kimberley.
The deposits are located on the WA/NT Border not far from the Bungles.
The find is unusual because of the very high grade of copper involved.
The company is now set to embark on a major drilling campaign.
Rock chip samples taken from various locations at the tenement contain up to 42.5 percent copper.
The average of seven rock chip samples over a 60-metre interval was 24.49 percent copper.
The zone of mineralisation is approximately 1.5 kilometres metres by one kilometre and open in all directions.
The thicker parts of the zone are between three and eight metres, with a lateral extent of approximately half a kilometre by one kilometre.
"We are very excited by these findings," said Ord's executive chairman John Towner.
"We've found high grade copper in a flat mineralised zone just below the surface, so mining will be easy - we don't need to go underground."
To put this in perspective, the Mount Gunson copper mine in South Australia extracted 7.5 million tonnes of rock at a grade of 1.9 percent copper between 1974 and 1986.
As a result, Ord has applied for additional areas of approximately 2000 square kilometres, in addition to its holdings of 692 square kilometres.
With the additional tenements, which are expected to be granted within six months, Ord anticipates proving up a sizeable deposit that may be up to five million tonnes in size.
Grade will only be known after drilling is carried out.
Taken together, the apparently very high grade of the copper and the potential size of the deposit means there is real potential for a commercially successful mining operation.
Ord made the discovery after using data from a previous explorer, which apparently did not recognise the significance of its results.
Ord will further expand the exploration program to determine the commercial potential of the deposits.
This extensive program will occur early next dry season.
The mineralisation lies in the uppermost Antrim Plateau volcanics and in the lowermost part of the Headleys Limestone.
The strike length of the potential host rock is estimated to be 110 kilometres long and up to 10 kilometres wide.
The mineralisation is overlaid by a thin overburden layer, often less than four metres.
Ord River Resources has mining interests in WA, NT and Laos.
It is also seeking to acquire interests on Bougainville.
Copper was fetching US$6762 last week on the London Metal Exchange.
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